Unrest in Namibia (eBook)

A Fabel Retief Thriller, Book 5

Meiring Fouche, Pieter Haasbroek (Autoren)

Pieter Haasbroek (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
137 Seiten
Pieter Haasbroek (Verlag)
9780000923042 (ISBN)

Infos

A plague is sweeping across the land, but this is no act of God.

It's an act of war.

And the first shots were fired with a syringe.

In the sun-scorched plains of South West Africa, retired detective Fabel Retief is pulled from his quiet farm into a maelstrom of chaos. A virulent foot-and-mouth disease outbreak is crippling the country, spreading with unnatural speed and defying all logic. But Retief soon discovers the horrifying truth.

This is no random epidemic. It's a meticulously planned biological attack designed to bring a nation to its knees. A hidden enemy is waging a silent war, and if Retief fails, the entire country will collapse into economic ruin.

His hunt for the truth leads from a deadly ambush in the Namib desert to the impossible peak of Spitskop, where a mysterious light signals a deeper conspiracy. To unravel it, he must face a shadowy mastermind and a suspicious vessel from Panama that is more than just a fishing boat.

This classic adventure blends relentless action with the tense, twisting plot of a spy thriller. Perfect for fans of Alistair MacLean and Desmond Bagley, it's a story of grit, espionage, and one man against an invisible enemy.

The world of Fabel Retief just got a whole lot bigger. The fifth installment in this pulse-pounding series proves that no matter where he goes, trouble is sure to follow. The journey continues, but will he survive it?

Textauszug

5. UNREST IN NAMIBIA

Chapter 1

FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE

When Fabel Retief read the telegram from Colonel Hugo van Deventer through once more that afternoon on his fruit farm in the Lowveld of Transvaal, he got the feeling that something large and important was afoot. It was a simple and short telegram. Can you meet me in Johannesburg immediately stop Essential stop Van Deventer detective service.

Fabel Retief carefully folds the telegram and puts it in his pocket. This is not the first time the former detective has received a telegram from the Detective Service. He may be a retired detective who is now a full-time farmer, but from time to time they still require his services. In his day, Fabel Retief was one of the sharpest and most resourceful detectives in the entire country. Someone once said that Fabel Retief’s investigative genius rivaled that of the best detectives in the world.

This telegram is actually unsettling for him. His papayas are ready to be harvested. There are other important matters that need his attention here on the farm. Yet he knows that he will have to go, because he realizes that Hugo van Deventer would not summon him if it were not absolutely essential.

He immediately summons his foreman, informs him that he is leaving. He does not know how long it will be and he gives the Bantu complete instructions on what to do.

Fortunately, the man is very astute and knows everything about the papaya harvest. Afterwards, Fabel Retief drives over to his neighbor, Henk Jansen, and asks him to keep an eye on the farming operations.

And so it happens that at ten o’clock the following morning, Fabel walks into the spacious, neatly furnished office of Colonel Hugo van Deventer. The Colonel is a greying, handsome, intelligent man. And when Fabel enters, he immediately stands up and greets him warmly.

“It is very good of you to come, Retief,” says the Colonel. “I am truly sorry that I had to summon you here under these circumstances. Aren’t you on the verge of starting your harvest?”

“I am, Colonel,” says Fabel, “but no matter, I have made arrangements so that my papayas can be marketed. Is there something I can help with?”

The Colonel pulls open a drawer and takes out a file. Then he clasps his fingers together, leans forward on the desk, and looks at the former detective who is no longer a detective.

“Many days I wonder why you left the detective service, Retief,” says the Colonel. “You were in the prime of your career. Is farming really that appealing?”

“More appealing than the detective service, Colonel,” answers Fabel.

“I can believe it,” answers the Colonel, and there is a touch of nostalgia in his voice. “Every day I wish I could retire so I could go farming too.”

Then his face darkens and he mechanically opens the file. The Colonel suddenly leans back in his chair and looks at Fabel attentively. “Retief,” he says. “I had you come because we are dealing with a particularly difficult problem. A problem that makes it very difficult for me to use one of our full-time detectives. I think you are the ideal man to help us here.”

“If I can help, I will be only too grateful, Colonel,” says Fabel.

“It is in connection with the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in South West,” says Colonel Van Deventer.

Fabel Retief suddenly sits up straight. “Foot-and-mouth disease?” he asks.

Colonel Van Deventer sees his astonishment. “Yes, Retief,” he says, “what I am about to ask you has to do with the outbreak of this terrible and extremely detrimental disease. It appears that something peculiar is going on in South West. The police there are at their wits’ end. The poor fellows have nearly worked themselves to death. They have to help patrol cordons, they have to try to maintain control of the situation, and now the whole affair has gotten out of hand. They have called for our help.”

“Am I supposed to go and stop kudus or what, Colonel?” asks Fabel.

“No, Retief, you must go and do much more than stop kudus. There are indications that the foot-and-mouth disease in South West is being spread through human agency... deliberately.”

Fabel’s body jerks forward and his mouth falls open. His eyes are suddenly wide and bright. “You must excuse me, Colonel, but I cannot believe that anyone could be so base as to spread this dreaded disease intentionally.”

Colonel Hugo van Deventer stands up and walks to a large map of South West against the wall of his office. “Come take a look here, Retief,” says the Colonel.

Fabel goes over, and when they stand before the map, Fabel sees that certain large regions of South West Africa are marked off in black. In these areas, pins with red heads have been stuck. In some places they are close together. In other places, far apart.

“Look at these pins, Retief,” says the Colonel. “What do you notice when you look at them?”

“The most striking thing is,” says Fabel, “that they are spread over a large area and that the regions in which they appear are not connected to each other.”

“Precisely,” says Van Deventer. He points with his finger to all the regions with the red pins in them. “It covers a large part of the country in isolated patches that are separated from each other.”

“I want you to look closely at the map, Retief,” says the Colonel, “then we can talk further.” With that, he walks back to his desk and sits down. After a while, Fabel joins the Colonel.

“Did you see, Retief?”

“The only immediate conclusion I can draw, Colonel, is that the disease must be spreading in a peculiar manner. It must have broken out in one place, surely?”

“It did,” says the Colonel.

“And after that,” says Fabel, “it must have developed from place to place. It must have spread systematically in some direction, right?”

“That is precisely the point, Retief. But this outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease did not develop systematically in a certain direction. It has jumped from place to place like a wildfire in a strong wind. That is the most striking thing about the whole situation.”

“But, Colonel,” says Fabel, “there could be a thousand reasons for that. I mean, the disease could have been transmitted by game. Game moves quickly and far. It could have been transmitted unwittingly by people, couldn’t it? That is surely not a reason to assume that people are deliberately spreading it.”

The Colonel sweeps his narrow fingers over his eyebrows. Then he takes out a cigarette and lights it. He does it so absent-mindedly that he does not even offer one to Fabel.

“Your deduction is correct up to a point, Retief,” says the Colonel. “But what do we find? Strong cordons were immediately thrown up around all the affected areas. Game and animals were trapped. There could be absolutely no movement. Infected animals were immediately destroyed. We have information that there was no human traffic between certain places.”

“That is still no proof, Colonel,” says Fabel stubbornly. “Nobody can tell me that all game can be controlled. Something or other slips through nonetheless.”

“Very well, if you are so clever, Retief, then perhaps you can give me an explanation for the following...”

The Colonel stands up again and walks to the map, followed by Fabel. Fabel Retief is by nature a man who does not believe everything. It takes a lot to convince him. And he especially dislikes talk and theories. He likes facts that are facts on the face of it. He investigates everything before drawing a conclusion.

With his finger, Colonel Van Deventer points to a place in the southwestern part of South West Africa. A heavy black circle has been drawn around the place.

“This farm,” says the Colonel, “belongs to a German farmer. He has had foot-and-mouth disease before and it taught him a bitter lesson. Consequently, he incurred the expense of thoroughly and highly fencing his entire farm. In such a way that not even a kudu would try to jump over that fence. It is simply impossible. For a long time, the man was not bothered by foot-and-mouth disease again. At the first outbreak, he made sure his fence was in order. It had always been in order. Foot-and-mouth disease broke out in one place after another in his vicinity, but not on his farm. He hired extra help. He constantly patrolled his fence.”

The Colonel suddenly falls silent and with his sharp eyes, he looks at Fabel. “Do you know what happened now, Retief?”

Fabel just looks at the Colonel in silence. And it feels to him as if a trump card is about to be played.

“About a month ago, foot-and-mouth disease broke out on this farm. And what is so striking is that it broke out in a particularly virulent form. It spread like wildfire among game and livestock. It is very noticeable. How do you explain that, Retief?”

“I do not know much about these things, Colonel,” Fabel confesses. “Could it be that the germs are carried by the wind? Could it be that the germs are carried by birds?”

Van Deventer shrugs his shoulders. “It is certainly difficult to convince you, Retief. I do not know. Perhaps it is possible. But perhaps you can then explain this to me. Shortly before the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on this particular farm, the farmer’s laborers spotted a suspicious native outside the fence. They saw him a few times. And what is even more striking, outside the fence they found a place where a snare had caught something. Apparently it was a young duiker. Perhaps it is also a coincidence, but near that spot, on the inside of the fence,...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 18.9.2025
• Übersetzer: Pieter Haasbroek, Ai
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror
• ISBN-13: 9780000923042 / 9780000923042